Tuesday, April 14, 2009

India: The Role Of Migratory Birds In Spreading Bird Flu

It seems that every few months we get a new report that either implicates – or exonerates – migratory birds as a vector for the H5N1 virus.

Today, we get another study that claims to rule out migratory birds as spreaders of the H5N1 virus in India.

Perhaps it’s so.

At least in the region of the world they investigated.

But there have been studies in other parts of the world that strongly suggest otherwise – that migratory birds do play a role in the spread of avian viruses.

How big a role? Well, that is still unknown.

Without knowing the full details of this research, including who conducted it, it is difficult to know how much weight to give their conclusions.

Hopefully more detailed information will be forthcoming.

The opening paragraph of this article makes it sound as if all migratory birds are off the hook when it comes to spreading the virus – which would seem a pretty big leap in logic based on what appears to be a limited study in India.

NEW DELHI, April 14 (Xinhua) -- International researchers have recently ruled out the spreading of avian influenza or bird flu virus by migratory birds through a review of migratory bird movement, reported local daily Mail Today Tuesday.

All samples studies for virus strain H5N1 on migrant birds so far were found to be negative, said the report.

The researchers monitored in real time the movement of migratory birds from India in a northward direction using satellite tracking technology. They ruled out the possibility of involvement of migratory birds in avian influenza spreading in India, said the report.

The satellite monitoring gave valuable data about the movement of migratory birds in the region and has enabled scientists to determine whether the locations of these birds and outbreaks of bird flu are related along the birds' migratory pathways, according to the report.

The project began last December when scientists captured, sampled and marked 70 water birds with "satellite tags" at Chilika Lagoon in India, where over 8,900,000 migratory and resident water birds used to live as their temporary or permanent residence, said the report.